Is it due to injuries that his career never took off, or was he overhyped because of his size? At some point, he was considered to be head-to-head with Doughty as the potential #2 pick in the 2008 draft. Nowadays, he's a forgotten man whose career average in games played in a season is 55.

With all that said, can he be considered a bust? Sure, he is still an NHL defenseman, but considering the fact he was selected 3rd overall, and who went afterwards, I don't think anyone will argue that he's lived up to the hype he had entering the NHL.

He is the DiPietro of this era: a player who was real good when he was healthy but had their career ruined by an injury that robbed them of their athletic gifts. I hope he at least ends up like DP when he is forced to retire and has a very successful media career.

Injuries have been a major factor for sure. Personally (although it would be impossible to know), I wonder how he would have turned out if he got the Pietrangelo
treatment after he was drafted. Bogo was rushed right to the NHL, given too much responsibility, and a coach he didn't work well with.

Is it due to injuries that his career never took off, or was he overhyped because of his size? At some point, he was considered to be head-to-head with Doughty as the potential #2 pick in the 2008 draft. Nowadays, he's a forgotten man whose career average in games played in a season is 55.

With all that said, can he be considered a bust? Sure, he is still an NHL defenseman, but considering the fact he was selected 3rd overall, and who went afterwards, I don't think anyone will argue that he's lived up to the hype he had entering the NHL.

Click to expand...

Major bust. An under-performer when healthy, anyways. Ironic that such a physical dynamo can't stay healthy.

His zenith was at the scouting combine and it's been all downhill ever since.

Click to expand...

So what we're saying with our massive data set here, is avoid the best in the categories and target the average or worst to find the gems? I mean, Bogosian & Cormier versus Karlsson & Gardiner can't be wrong!

Seriously though, this guy is like Jordan Leopold injured. Breathe on him and something happens. Not quite Salo level. No one is Salo level.

What's weird is that he still managed to play his best hockey ever after coming back from a broken leg during his rookie season, but a broken thumb in year 2 appears to be what derailed his career. Protect your thumbs, kids.

He's a lesson in how far from linear prospect development can be. Being "first" and coming out of the draft with a man body ready for the NHL game and looking promising early isn't the end-all be-all. For some guys like Bogosian, there's just not much of anywhere left to go and they never really get all that much better. Of course, Doughty also jumped right in and looked promising, and he's shown that the opposite can also be true, as he just continued an upward trajectory from there until he became arguably the best defenceman in the league. And you had a guy like Pietranglo who went back for a couple extra years of Junior hockey before he was even "ready" for the NHL, who has also become one of the best. Prospect development can be all over the place, and there are many roads to success, especially for Defencemen.

All the injuries really didn't help Bogosian along the way. Hard to really build on things year over year if you're constantly missing time and rehabbing something or another, just trying to get your body back to where you left off last time. But it really seems like Bogo was just one of those guys who peaks early and can't ever seem to find that next level.

I'd call him a disappointment, especially relative to the early hype levels...but he's really not a "bust". He's an NHL caliber player when healthy, and he's had some pretty good years along the way. Even with all the missed time, he's still well over 500 games playing quite a few minutes in most of them, and he's still got plenty of years to keep building on that total. Not what you'd hope for with a #3 pick, but realistically...far from the worst result. A real "bust" is guys like Teubert, Filatov, Beach et al from that draft. Guys who never even make it anywhere near the level Bogosian entered the league with right away, and never even achieve a level good enough to contribute to your team even when they are healthy.